December 2005 | Vol. 23, No. 12

Senate Passes a One Percent Increase for 2006 Physician Fee Schedule

As part of a broad budget bill, the U.S. Senate has passed a provision that includes a 1 percent increase in Medicare payments for physicians and other providers paid pursuant to the physician fee schedule in 2006. The 1 percent increase would replace the 4.4 percent cut scheduled by CMS as outlined in the Final Rule for the 2006 Physician Fee Schedule.

However, the budget bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives did not include a similar provision. H.R. 3617, the Medicare Value-Based Purchasing for Physicians' Services Act of 2005, would stop Medicare payment cuts not only in 2006, but would also repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) methodology, stopping cuts in 2007 and subsequent years and basing future Medicare payments on rising practice costs. Unfortunately, this legislation was viewed as too costly by some Representatives to include it in the larger budget package. H.R. 3617, introduced by Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), currently has 44 co-sponsors.

At press time, it is uncertain whether the Senate provision will survive a Conference Committee scheduled for mid-December. Many Senators and Representatives have voiced strong support for at least temporary relief to the scheduled 4.4 percent payment cuts for 2006, but without Congressional action the payment cut is inevitable.

The “Preserving Patient Access to Physicians Act of 2005” (H.R. 2356 and S. 1081) also includes language to avoid scheduled 4.4 percent Medicare payment cuts as outlined in the Final Rule for the 2006 Physician Fee Schedule. The planned negative update for 2006 and the negative updates that are expected for the next few years are attributed to the exponential growth in Medicare spending. However, CMS has acknowledged a compelling need to continue to work with Congress to identify a more sustainable payment system that will ensure adequate payment to physicians and promote efficiency and quality in health care services.

SVU members can facilitate this effort by asking their Representatives to support the Senate provision calling for a 1 percent increase in Medicare payments for physicians and other providers paid pursuant to the physician fee schedule in 2006.

The “Preserving Patient Access to Physicians Act of 2005” (H.R. 2356 or S. 1081) also is still alive in Congress. To date, H.R. 2356, introduced by Rep. E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-FL) has 164 co-sponsors. S. 1081, introduced by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has 25 co-sponsors. You can find the list of co-sponsors by going to the Thomas website at http://thomas.loc.gov and entering either H.R. 2356 or S. 1081 in the Bill number search field. After clicking on Search, click on Bill Status and Summary, and then click on cosponsors to get a complete list of all of the Bill’s cosponsors so you can see if your Congressman and two Senators have signed onto the Bill.

If you have not yet done so, there is still time to contact your Members of Congress to ask for their support of H.R. 3617, H.R. 2356 or S. 1081 to permanently fix the physician fee schedule issue.

To determine your Members of Congress, please go to the following two websites: www.house.gov or www.senate.gov.

Because of the shortness of time, it is important that you call your Congressman and Senators offices to urge them to support H.R. 3617, H.R. 2356 and S. 1081. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to speak to the health legislative assistant in the office of your U.S. Representative or U.S. Senators.

Thanks for your assistance in calling the offices of your Members of Congress on these important Congressional bills.